They suddenly appeared last week, by the hundreds; from small enough to hold in one hand to huge, round whoppers; all of them a beautiful bright orange.

Pumpkins, of course, right on schedule, and telling us in no uncertain terms that fall has most definitely arrived.

Pumpkins are one of the things I most love about fall and even as I’m lamenting the end of our too-short summer, I’m hooraying their sudden appearance and digging out my pumpkin recipes file. Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread/muffins/cake, pumpkin flan/creme brulée, and among my all-time favorite desserts, pumpkin cheesecake.

One of our most popular crops today, pumpkins are also one of the oldest known edible plants.

They were undoubtedly growing here when Columbus landed, (happy Columbus Day, by the way), and are now grown in every part of the world except Antarctica.

Approximately one and a half billion pounds of pumpkins are produced yearly in this country alone, for everything from animal feed to Halloween decorations, although that number may be lower this year due to the heavy rains in the Midwest and southeast that devastated some crops, pumpkins among them.

Good to eat, yes, but pumpkins are also good for fun. Even as I write this, contests are going on to see who grew the largest, heaviest pumpkin in 2011.

The winner last year weighed in at an incredible 1,810 pounds, the record holder thus far, although I find it hard to imagine what anyone is ultimately going to do with that behemoth. And in the past decade or so, pumpkin chucking contests have become a featured October event, with teams designing special devices with one purpose only, to see just how far a pumpkin can be thrown.

As with most orange and/or deep yellow vegetables, pumpkins are loaded with both alpha and beta carotene, which translates to lots of Vitamin A when you eat it. They’re also a good source of Vitamins C and E, B6 and B9, as well as potassium, magnesium, calcium, and if you roast and eat the pumpkin seeds, add protein and zinc.

All of you Harry Potter fans and followers know that pumpkin juice was the favored drink of students at Hogwarts, so perhaps pumpkins contain some secret wizardry powers, as well.

I hope so, because I wouldn’t mind casting a few spells here and there, but even though there are those who have called me a witch, I don’t think a glass of pumpkin juice will make it happen.

No matter, there are so many, many other things to enjoy about pumpkins, I won’t miss the wizardry.

All hail the return of the pumpkins; enjoy them to the fullest because one day, sometime after the first of the New Year, they’ll become scarce and perhaps disappear entirely, not to be seen again until next October.

RECIPES

As I have just spent a paragraph or so telling you about the health benefits of pumpkin, let’s begin with a delicious, golden side dish, excellent with pork, venison, turkey or chicken, or as a vegetarian entrée.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO

3½ cups chicken broth (homemade, or low-salt canned)

¼ t. saffron threads, crushed (if you have no saffron on hand, change this to ¼ t. turmeric)

3 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

1¼ cups Arborio rice

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup cooked pureed pumpkin (or 8 oz. canned solid pack pumpkin)

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for garnish

Bring 3¼ cups broth to a boil in a saucepan; reduce heat to low, cover and keep warm. Combine remaining broth and saffron in a small bowl.

Melt 2 T. butter with oil in a heavy pan over med. heat. Add onion; sauté until soft (about 5 min.) Add rice, stir 2 min., add wine and simmer, stirring, until almost no liquid remains. Stir in pumpkin.

Add 1 cup broth to rice; simmer until liquid is almost absorbed, stirring frequently (many risotto recipes tell you to stir constantly), then add another ½ cup broth and repeat the process, adding ½ cup broth at a time and stirring until absorbed, until the rice is tender but still firm to bite and the mixture is creamy, probably about 15-20 min. total. Mix in the pumpkin/saffron mixture, remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, with additional Parmesan to sprinkle on top as desired. Serves 6.

There are many, many recipes for pumpkin soup; this is one with a bit of panache, perhaps for a special evening.

PUMPKIN SOUP

2 T. butter

2 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 pumpkin (about 2 lbs.), peeled, seeded (save seeds to roast) and chopped (you should have about 6 cups)

6 cups, perhaps more, chicken stock (homemade stock, or canned low-salt)

4-5 whole cloves

½ cup cream

2 T. honey

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over med.-high heat. Add carrots, celery and onion; sauté until tender (about 8-9 min.). Add pumpkin, chicken stock and cloves. Cover and simmer until pumpkin is very tender, about 25 to 30 min.

Discard cloves. Purée soup in batches in blender and return to Dutch oven as processed. Stir in the cream and honey, bring soup to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (At this point, the soup can be refrigerated and kept overnight, should you wish to make it ahead.) Bring to a simmer; thin with more chicken stock, if desired, before serving. If you want to give it a touch of elegance, swirl a bit of cream in a decorative pattern into each bowl just before serving. Serves 8.

Let’s finish with some easy pumpkin bars, great treats to hand out for Halloween, but also for any kids’ (or grown-ups’) Halloween party.

PUMPKIN BARS

4 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. ginger

1 t. baking soda

1 ²/3 cups sugar

2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 oz. can)

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

For frosting: 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temp.

1 t. vanilla

1 ½ to 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

Beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and sugar; stir into pumpkin mixture. Spread into a lightly greased and floured 9×13 baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20-25 min. or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack.

Make frosting: Beat together cream cheese and vanilla, adding confectioners’ sugar until desired consistency is reached. Frost the pumpkin cake and cut into bars of desired size. Note: You can also make this recipe into cupcakes instead of bars, should you prefer. Fill paper lined cupcake tins half-full; bake at same temp.